The heartless thug who allegedly knocked a Catholic school teacher to the ground, swiped her purse, and took off in her car was arrested early this morning in Brooklyn just blocks from the scene of the crime, police said.

Cops say Eric Ferguson, 18, is the punk caught on a surveillance camera yesterday in front of the Good Shepherd School in Sheepshead Bay viciously attacking beloved computer science teacher Patricia McGowan, 62.

The creep pounced on the hapless McGowan at the school’s gate at 6:40 a.m., knocked her down and made off with her purse, the shocking video footage shows.

Adding insult to the already heinous crime, the perp then used the keys he found in her purse to steal McGowan’s car as she was filing a police report.

Ferguson, who police say has a record, was picked up in his Avenue Z home and police said McGowan’s 2000 Toyota Corolla was nearby.

He is being questioned now at the 61st Precinct, police said.

Investigators are also looking at other recent purse snatchings in the area to see if they are the work of Ferguson.

McGowan was dazed and bruised in the incident.

“She told me, ‘my face is a mess,'” said school custodian Tom Smyth, who spoke with her by phone after the attack. “She is bruised up. Her face is black and blue. She was upset over it.”

“She is a wonderful person and a wonderful teacher. I wish I could have taken the blow for her,” said Armand Solerno, 61, who lives near McGowan in the New Dorp section of Staten Island.

“It’s a rough time for her right now,” he said.

The goon first knocked her through the gate – which is capped with a cross – and threw punches as she fell to the ground.

The plucky McGowan put up a fight, struggling with the man for a few seconds as he tried to rip the purse from her hands.

He finally got the bag from her and fled, leaving her dazed on the ground.

McGowan, who teaches computer science, was not badly hurt, but suffered facial bruises.

The crime shocked the popular teacher’s legions of students.

“She’s always there to help us. She’s a very special teacher to us,” said Gregory Cafiero, 12.

“We hope she’ll come back to be our teacher.”

Monsignor Thomas Brady – who oversees Good Shepherd Church and School – said McGowan has been teaching there for 43 years.

“She’s a very quiet, peaceful person who doesn’t deserve to be hit the way she was hit.”

Investigators were looking at other purse snatchings in the area recently to see if the same man might have been involved, a police source said.

The incident brought up memories of the savage videotaped assault of 101-year-old grandmother Rose Morat in the lobby of her Queens building last year.

In the video, a thug is seen landing a vicious roundhouse punch to Morat’s face.